Karissa Cottier, BSPS ’13, is embarking on her graduate studies in the University of Arizona Medical Pharmacology Graduate Program. She conducted undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. Salah Ahmed and was nominated by the Department of Medical Pharmacology to receive the prestigious Science Foundation of Arizona Graduate Research Fellowship, which includes a one-year stipend and the full cost of tuition.
In Dr. Ahmed’s lab, Karissa studied mechanisms of apoptosis in human Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) synovial fibroblasts and co-authored a poster presented in August 2012 in San Diego and a review article and other studies that will yield another publication. At the University of Arizona, she plans to study the molecular mechanism of disease pathogenesis in order to facilitate efforts toward the development of highly targeted therapies.
According to Karissa, “this fellowship opportunity was a direct result of the help and guidance I received from my professors and especially Dr. Ahmed for giving me lots of great opportunities in my undergraduate research.”